Tehran To Deploy Hijab Enforcers At Subway Stations
The municipality of Tehran plans to dispatch 400 of its personnel as hijab enforcers to subway stations of the capital.
The municipality of Tehran plans to dispatch 400 of its personnel as hijab enforcers to subway stations of the capital.
Faraz Internet Daily reported on Sunday that the roles of these new hijab enforcers include warning women against removing the mandatory headscarves, preventing their entry without "proper" attire, and handing them over to law enforcement authorities if they disregard the rules.
The daily said these enforcers, who have been trained by Tehran Municipality Security Unit, will receive a monthly salary of 120 million rials (about $240), almost twice as much as the minimum wage in Iran.
According to the report, Tehran Municipality has earmarked a $100,000 monthly budget for hijab enforcement at subways stations.
The capital’s metro stations have been a hijab battleground since the municipality formed a special uniformed security unit to stop unveiled women from passing through the ticket gates earlier in the year.
The uprising that was sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini in September 2022 has made it increasingly difficult for the clerical regime to enforce the mandatory Islamic dress code. Since the beginning of the ‘Women, Life, Liberty’ movement, tens of thousands of girls and women have shed their compulsory hijab.
To avoid the public backlash over the violent enforcement of hijab laws, the Islamic Republic has recently begun implementing a wide range of measures from public humiliation tactics to using traffic cameras to identify women without hijab.
Moreover, heated debates over a new bill about how to deal with women who refuse to observe compulsory hijab continues inside and outside the Iranian parliament. The bill mainly relies on cash fines to force women to wear the hijab.
